Film

Run All Night

Name: Run All Night
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2015
Cast: Liam Neeson, Joel Kinnaman, Ed Harris, Vincent D'Onofrio, Bruce McGill

A Liam Neeson vehicle about an aging Brooklyn hitman forced to protect his estranged son from the mob he's served for decades. It's a tense, propulsive thriller that trades subtlety for momentum, with Neeson doing what he does best: looking weary while dispensing violence with purpose. For fans of kinetic crime stories and second-act redemption arcs.

TMDb rating

3.2

If you liked this

Taken2008

Neeson's definitive revenge-dad role: same moral clarity, same relentless forward motion, same sense of a man with nothing left to lose. If you loved that film's single-minded intensity, this delivers it again with a crime-family twist.

But It's basically the same film. Neeson playing a protective father figure against overwhelming odds is his comfort zone, and this doesn't stray far from the formula.

The Departed2006

Boston crime saga with the same DNA: loyalty tested, family betrayed, good and bad men forced into impossible choices. Scorsese's version has more wit and texture, but the moral engine is identical—watching decent people corroded by the life.

But Much longer and denser. This sprawls where Run All Night sprints. Patience required.

In the Line of Fire1993

Clint Eastwood as an aging Secret Service agent haunted by past failures, one last chance to get things right. Same elegant fatalism, same sense of a man redeeming himself through action rather than words. Criminally underseen.

But It's a political thriller about presidential protection, not mob violence. Slower-burn than you might expect from the premise.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Run All Night

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In Bruges2008

Both are stories about hitmen confronting their conscience through loss. But where Neeson's film keeps moving, this one holds still and stares at the damage until you can't look away.

Two hitmen hide out in a medieval Belgian city after a job goes wrong. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as men haunted by what they've done, wrestling with whether they deserve redemption. Same moral weight as Run All Night but compressed into a smaller, more poetic space.

But It's a dark comedy-drama hybrid. The tone shifts between violence and whimsy in ways that feel precious to some viewers.

A Prophet2009

French prison drama that traces how a decent man becomes criminal royalty through circumstance and survival. Morally complex where Run All Night is simpler, but both explore what it costs to live inside the system.

But It's a slow-burn character study in French with subtitles. Demands attention in a way Neeson's film doesn't require.

Nobody2021

Bob Odenkirk as an aging man forced back into violence to protect his family. Same setup, same stakes, same sense of watching someone's past come due. Lean and clever where this is just lean.

But It's trying to be clever and funny in ways that undercut the stakes. Some find that refreshing; others find it deflating.

The Drop2014

Tom Hardy in a Brooklyn crime film about loyalty, betrayal, and the weight of doing the right thing in a system designed to punish it. Quiet and atmospheric where Run All Night is loud, but the moral questions align.

But Very slow. This is a character study masquerading as a crime film. If you came for action, you'll be disappointed.

Live by Night2016

Ben Affleck directs and stars in another crime saga about a man trying to escape his past and build something better, only to find the past won't let him. Similar arc, similar tragedy of circumstance.

But Affleck's direction is pedestrian, and the film never generates the propulsion it needs. It's a step down.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer2017

Yorgos Lanthimos exploring moral debt and family obligation in an tense, surgical way. Both films are about fathers forced to confront what they owe and what they've taken. Very different tone, same core question.

But Arthouse and deliberately uncomfortable. Watching someone's moral crisis unfold in real time. Not remotely escapist.

Hell or High Water2016

Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges in a modern Western about brothers committing crimes together and a lawman chasing them across Texas. Smarter than Run All Night, with more character texture and regional flavor.

But It's a heist film first and a character study second. If you wanted pure momentum and stakes, this sometimes pauses to think.

Godless2017

Both feature aging men trying to protect someone from a system of violence they created. Run All Night is a sprint; this is a long, hard walk through territory they know too well.

A Western miniseries where a woman-run mining town harbors a fugitive lawman. Six tight episodes of moral complexity and survival, beautifully shot, with Jeff Daniels as a man defined by sins he can't undo. The same question as Run All Night—can you choose to be better?—stretched across a canvas where character has room to breathe.

But It's a Western, which means it moves differently than a modern crime thriller. Slower, more meditative. And the finale is deliberately ambiguous in ways that frustrate people wanting closure.

A Simple Plan1998

Both explore the cost of choosing the wrong loyalty. But where Run All Night is about a man racing to fix one bad choice, this is about how one wrong decision ripples and drowns everyone it touches.

Sam Raimi directs Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda in a story about ordinary people finding money, then watching it corrode everything good about them. The same trajectory as Run All Night but stretched across a full winter—how greed and circumstance destroy even decent people.

But It's a character tragedy, not a thriller. Tension builds through moral erosion, not plot. And the ending is genuinely bleak in ways that linger uncomfortably.